104 



THE AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 



March 29. 1913. 



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glgricultura l ^I'm 



Vol. Xn. SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 191-3. No. 28-5. 



Tjotes and comments^ 



Contents of Present Issue. 



The leading article in this number recurs to the 

 subject of a Tropical University. The direct sugges- 

 tions which have recently appeared in leading British 

 journals are elaborated from the point of view of co- 

 operation with existing institutions and its location in 

 the West Indies. 



On page 99 will be found an account of the recent 

 prize pasture competition at Antigua. 



lender the caption Book Shelf, on page 101, will 

 be found a review of the World's ( "ane Sugar Industrv, 

 •and of A Handbook of General Information on the 

 Virgin Islands. 



A veteiinary article dealing with ophthalmia in 

 animals will be found on page 10:!. 



Edaphism. 



The new conception in regard to the relation 

 between plants an^ the soil is connoted by the term 

 edaphism. The nature of the theory, and its applica- 

 tions to agricult.ure,are dealt with at some length in the 

 Bidli'tln of (III' Bureau of Agricaltwrai Intelligence 

 and of Plant Diseases for December 1912, and fronn 

 this source the following information has been abstracted. 



By ednphism is m^ant the totality of trophic and 

 geogiaphical relations, that i.s of nutrition and surround- 

 ing-', between plants and the soil: consequently the 

 fundamental problem of edaphism is the study of the 

 liqui<ls of the soil and of the physical, chemical and 

 climatic factors which may modify their properties. 



To illustrate this new jioint of view, the outcome 

 of modern research into the physical jtroperties of the 

 soil in different parts of the world, mention may be made 

 of the recent conclusions that in studying soil nutrients, 

 the crude form of chemical and mechanical analy.--is of 

 air-dry soil does not give results that are truly repre- 

 sentative of the nutritive potentialities of the soil 

 investigated. For instance, liquids of difi'erent com- 

 position can be obtained from the same soil by 

 pressure, washing (trituration) and leaching by rain; 

 and it is held that in nature two soils of similar chem- 

 ical composition may give rise to entirely different 

 plant conditions as a result of continual alterations in 

 the concentration of the soil waters. 



States of constant and variable concentration of 

 the soil solution are considered to be properties of the 

 greatest importance not only as regards the permanence 

 of certain substances in the soil but also for the func- 

 tion of absorption by the roots of plants. 



The Insect Notes, on page 106, constitute the first 

 of a series of articles dealing with the important subject 

 of root borers and other grubs in West Indian soils. 



( )n page 110, new and important facts ai-e presented 

 in connexion with the cultivation of Sea Island cotton 

 in South Africa. 



The Fungus Notes, which will be found on page 

 110, present information concerning investigations in 

 The West Indies and in America on galls of citrus trees. 

 -A suggestive account of the fungus flora of the soil is 

 also given on this page. 



Function of Insoluble Constituents of Rubber. 



Clayton Beadle and Stevens have recently pub- 

 lished in the Indii Ruhher Journal (February 1-5, 

 19U>) a paper describing the results of investigations 

 into the insoluble constituents of Ceara (Manihot) and 

 Kambong {Fieiis elastica) rubbers. In former e.'cperi- 

 ments, Hevea rubber had been investigated in a similar 

 manner. 



Ceara rtnd Ilambong rubbers were chosen because 

 the former usually contains a relatively large proportion 

 of nitrogen and the latter a vt-ry small proportion. By 

 treating the rubbers with benzene the following 

 samples were obtained: — 



(1) The lower dark portion of the benzene solution 

 containing the insoluble matter. 



(2) '{'he upper clear portion free from insoluble 

 matter. 



(3) Rubber swollen in benzene and recovered by 

 spontaneous evaporation without separation of the 

 constituents. 



Detorminations of the nitrogen in these samples 

 showed that in the case of all three rubbers, namely 

 Hevea, Ceara and Rambong, (1) contained a larger 

 percentage of nitrogen an<l (2) a smaller percentage of 

 nitrogen than the original rubbers. 



